


Alternate Chain Of Events

by StaticLantern



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-13 15:31:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2155743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaticLantern/pseuds/StaticLantern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate chain of events, Loki succeeds in his conquer of the Earth and grants Clint his freedom. The world is in shambles now and Loki is trying his hardest to pull it back together as quickly as possible, but it seems like there's someone there trying to stop him every time he turns around.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

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> 
> Http://birdwithakeyboard.tumblr.com/

_The battle is long won but it is over. The Avengers are defeated and I am finally the ruler of Midgard, unquestionable. The mortals have fallen into their rightful roles of subjugation. They know their places.  
And you, my sweet hawk, have brought me here. I grant you your freedom. _

Clint blinked slowly. His head was swimming, his eyes hurt, he didn’t know where he was. When his vision cleared, he found himself on the roof of Stark Tower beside the now deactivated machine that held the Tesseract. In front of him stood Loki, clad in all his amazing leather and gold. He stood only inches taller than Clint himself, but still he felt so small beside the God.  
“...Why…? W-why did you do that?” Clint asked slowly, not yet convinced that questioning Loki wouldn’t still send him into a debilitating migraine.  
“You’ve earned it. I have no use for you anymore. You’ve served me well dear Barton, and so you’ve earned release.” Loki replied simply, his face blank.  
“And… you don’t think I’ll attack you?” Clint asked. It didn’t make strategic sense to him. Loki’d not even bothered to take Clint’s weapons from him.  
“Please feel free to.” Loki replied, moving his arms out to the side, opening his chest up to attack. “I’ll kill you of course, if you do, you know I’m perfectly capable. Or you could simply turn around and leave.”  
“I… Where’s… Where’s my team, where are the Avengers?” Clint turned away from Loki, looking out at the city.  
“You don’t remember?”  
“No… And don’t bullshit me, haven’t I earned that too?” Clint turned back, staring at Loki accusingly.  
“You’ve earned many things Barton, your memories will come in ti-”  
“Fucking tell me!!” Clint screamed back, surprising even himself with the sudden outburst.  
“The man in the suit of armour, he crashed into one of the larger ships that came through, he was engulfed in flames. I don’t suspect he survived. The red-haired woman vanished, I don’t know where she went, as well as the blond man in the colourful suit. The Chitauri handled the green monster, and I…. I killed Thor.” Loki replied, hesitating before explaining each member’s fate.  
Clint nodded slowly. “Why don’t you want to kill me? Or-or-... or keep me under your control, why are you just letting me go?”  
Loki smiled, letting out a single, soft laugh. “I’m not letting you go Hawk, you’re in my domain now, I rule you. I rule all of you. You’re released from my sceptre’s power, you’re not released from me.”  
“So what, you’re just gonna swing by when you want a taste again?” Clint snapped dryly.  
“You’re reclaiming memories already.” Loki offered a sly grin.  
“That one’s kind of hard to forget.”  
Loki opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it.  
Clint snorted. “I finally left you speechless. I think I’m going to have to jot that down on my resume.”  
“It’s an impressive feat.” Loki remarked.  
Clint turned and looked out at the city again. Buildings were toppled, everything was either on fire or bellowing smoke, sirens echoed down the streets and there were still people screaming in agony. Clint pressed his hands over his face, suppressing a sob.  
“It’s all fucked.” He muttered, “It’s all so fucked.”  
“I’ll rebuild it. Lands always retain casualties after being conquered. It’ll flourish in a year’s time.” Loki had taken a few steps up beside Clint, looking out.  
“I didn’t expect you to actually try to rebuild anything.” Clint replied, wrapping his arms around himself.  
“Did you expect me rule rubble?” Loki looked down at Clint and Clint looked back.  
“I suppose not.”  
“...You could help, you know.” Loki said after a moment of silence. “You’re free to do as you please, but… I’d like you by my side. You stood beside me through the battle, it only seems fair you should have a bit of land to rule yourself.”  
“What makes you think I’d want to?”  
“I assume earl of a section of land would be a better life than mucking about in the rubble, in squalor. You could help rule this world as you see fit. You know the mortals and their way of life. I wish to be king here, I have no intention of stripping the people of their culture.”  
Clint noticed now how their arms were practically pressed together. They locked eyes for a moment, Loki searching for the answer before he received it, Clint… not so sure what he was looking for.  
“I’m no leader Loki. I don’t even have pets, I barely take care of myself-”  
“Let me take care of you then. Let me put you in a house on the hill with as many workers as you see fit.” Loki replied. Clint was beginning to feel uncomfortable under his stare.  
“I don’t-... Why-Why would you… I don’t understand.”  
Loki grabbed Clint by the waist suddenly and reeled him in, steading them harder against each other and crashed his mouth against Clint’s. His free hand came to Clint’s cheek, holding his face in place as he forced his tongue into the other man’s mouth, enthusiastically rocking his lips into Clint’s. He let out a soft moan, sucking Clint’s bottom lip into his mouth, biting it, pulling it along with him as he broke away from the kiss.  
“You asked me why I released you, this is why Clint.” Loki murmured softly, still holding close against Clint. “I could have kept you under my control, forced you to be with me, I could have ordered you tell me a thousand times a day that you loved me, but we both know how hollow an existence that would be. I know you hate me and I don’t blame you, so go off, live your life, just allow me the comfort of putting you someplace respectable. I don’t want to be strolling down the street three years from now and see you squatting in the gutter.”  
Clint pulled away slowly, his eyes still locked with Loki’s. He shook his head slowly, swallowing hard.  
“N-no. No, fuck no. I don’t want you in my fucking life. You’ve… You’ve destroyed _everything._ Just leave me alone.” Clint backed off more, keeping his eyes on Loki until he got about halfway across the roof before turning away and running the rest of the way, ducking down into the building and disappearing.

It didn’t take long before Asgard began sending troops down to Earth to try to extract Loki and the thousands of Chitauri that had taken up residency there, keeping Loki on the metaphorical throne. When they first arrived, Loki had been away. He’d gone to Jotunheim to begin negotiations, knowing Asgard would eventually send more people to fight against him.  
Upon arriving on Jotunheim, he was taken to the new king, his half-brother, Sigvardr. The Jotun was considerably larger than him, possibly larger than Laufey was, and at least as intimidating. He had battle scars across his face and more runes carved into his skin than Loki could count. He’d be lying if he wasn’t a little nervous about being here.  
“You… Asgardian… You murdered my father… And now you return after all this time. Why?” Sigvardr talked in a low, raspy, slow voice that sent shivers across Loki’s skin.  
“Our… Father, actually. I suppose that makes us half-brothers at least.” Loki replied, smirking.  
“You expect me to believe that?” Sigvardr replied, his mood brewing in a dark cloud around his head.  
“I don’t really care whether you do or not, that’s not why I’m here.”  
“Then why? What do you have to gain by coming here if it’s not to seek out my throne?” The giant shifted in his seat, casting a vague look of intrigument down at Loki.  
“Believe me, it’s not your throne I want. I’ve recently come into my own kingdom, I would like help securing it. I worked very… hard… to secure this realm, you can imagine how frustrating it’d be if Odin swooped in and stole it from me.”  
Sigvardr leaned forward, staring down at Loki with those dark, crimson eyes, before pulling himself to his feet, walking towards Loki.  
“Your enemy… is the Aesir?” He asked, making sure he heard right.  
“That is correct.”  
“...What exactly is it you want?”  
Loki smirked, feeling successful in his journey so far. “As many warriors as you can spare.”  
“You will have them… What do we get in return?”  
“What do you want?”  
Sigvardr was silent for a moment, casting his gaze around at the guards beside him. “We want slaves. Aesir slaves. And we want the casket returned to us.”  
Loki’s grin broadened, showing teeth. He turned, taking a few smug steps around the icy palace. “You may keep any Aesir you can capture, any but Queen Frigga, Lady Sif, and the Warriors Three, they are mine. Anyone else is yours. And the casket remains in my possession, you may have anything else from the Asgardian weapons vault.” Loki replied, looking up at Sigvardr again.  
The giant was silent for a long time, watching Loki. He turned, mulling the proposition over in his mind. He exchanged a few words with his guards before walking back to his throne and sitting down. He leaned his elbow on the arm, propping his face against his hand, red eyes trained on Loki.  
“I… agree… to your proposal… Assuming Odin is not off limits as well?”  
“A prize… To whomever brings me his head.” Loki replied, flashing another cocky smile.  
“Agreed.”

The Asgardians only had a few hours to gather themselves upon arriving on Midgard before Loki returned with an army of Frost Giants trailing behind him. With the Chitauri already on his side, the new added army of giants, and the sceptre still in his hands, he knew victory was within reach. He only wished he’d had time to congress with the mortals before the Aesir reached them. He’d hoped to get a few of them on his side. As it were, most of them had either agreed to help Odin and his armies, or had hidden away in wherever they’d made their homes in the wreckage of their old city.  
Loki himself had taken up residency in Stark Tower, finding the AI easy to reprogram to accommodate him. When he arrived there now, a dark figure loomed in the corner. Loki sensed the presence instantly, gluing his eyes to the shadow.  
“I did not expect you to come.” He said simply, his voice heavy.  
“How could I not? What mother wouldn’t want to see her son become king?” Frigga stepped out of the shadows. Her eyes were red from crying and her lip still quivered gently.  
“Have I made you proud then?” He asked darkly.  
“You know you haven’t.”  
“I only did what you and Odin both told me was my birthright my whole life.” Loki replied, holding back the crack that was threatening to break his voice.  
“This was not what we’d intended for you.” Frigga replied, letting out a staggered sigh.  
Loki shook his head, unsure of what to say. There was no doubt in his heart that what his mother said was true. He approached Frigga slowly, reaching his hand out to her. His heart clenched painfully when she shied away from him.  
“Oh Loki… I wish you hadn’t done this.” She said mournfully, looking at him with sad eyes.  
“What’s done is done.” Loki replied.  
“So it would seem…” Frigga shook her head and turned, disappearing into the shadows again.  
Loki sighed deeply, letting himself fall against the couch. His armours removed itself from Loki’s body as he fell, leaving him in the underclothes he wore beneath. He laid against the couch, pulling his knees up to his chest and stared out through the windows. Shudders wracked his body, slowly extracting silent sobs from him. He hated crying, even when he was alone, but the tears forced themselves from Loki’s eyes nonetheless, wetting his cheeks within seconds. He buried his face in the pillows, letting go of his pride long enough to get it out.

As soon as Clint ditched Loki, he made it his mission to hunt Natasha and Steve down. He started by checking their apartments, unsurprised by finding them both empty. After, he checked surrounding SHIELD haunts, bases, safehouses, anything he could find. That night, he retired in the last safehouse he checked, waking the next morning chilled the bone.  
He warmed quickly, eating whatever he could scrounge from the kitchens. Strange how an alien overlord causes everyone to abandon their places of business. Almost everywhere he looked was abandoned, looted, practically destroyed. He wasn’t sure if everyone had evacuated or died, probably a combination of both.  
After eating, he cleared out of the safehouse and moved on. Outside, he found why he’d woken cold. The city was covered in a thin layer of frost and the air revealed every breath Clint took. He bundled his jacket closer around himself, turning up his collar against the cold.  
Walking around the city seemed more uncomfortable than usual. He kept catching glimpses of Chitauri squatters watching him from the shadows. He kept up a quick pace, ignoring the eyes on him, and eventually, Steve and Natasha found him. As it turns out, they’d been living down in abandoned subway tunnels along with Director Fury, Maria Hill, a completely debilitated Pepper Potts, and a handful of other SHIELD workers.  
“So you guys all got together and came down here after the battle then.” Clint replied, stepping into the room they’d taken up main residency in.  
“Pretty much. How’d you get away from Loki?” Natasha asked. She was still sporting a nasty gash along the left side of her face from when she and Clint fought on the helecarrier.  
“...Loki… released me, he just let me go.” Clint replied, shaking his head a little. “He said I earned my freedom for helping him win.”  
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Steve replied. “Why wouldn’t he just kill you?”  
“I have no idea.” Clint replied, shrugging. It was a lie. Loki had made it very clear why he didn’t want to kill Clint, but it hadn’t made much sense to Clint and he felt himself embarrassed at the idea of trying to explain it to anyone.  
“I don’t suppose you have any ideas for what to do about Loki then? Any idea what he’s doing next?” Maria asked. She was sporting a bruise under her right eye, her lips were split, dirt caked her skin, and she’d changed into ill-fitting SHIELD issued scrubs. They all wore the scrubs (which was a less than pretty sight with Fury).  
“He was talking about rebuilding things, I’m not sure what he meant in it’s entirety though. I just wanted to get away from him, I should have stayed and found out his plans though.” Clint replied, his heart filling with guilt at the realization.  
“It’s ok, it’s not your fault Clint. Anyone of us would have done the same.” Natasha replied, reaching a hand out.  
“No, not you. You would have gotten more information out of him.”  
“Don’t be so sure.”  
“Here’s an idea, let’s cut out the pity party and talk about what we’re gonna do now.” Fury cut in.  
“What do you suggest Fury? Half the Avengers are dead, Loki won, probably close to four thousand Chitauri have set up shop on Earth. What hope do we have?” Clint asked hopelessly, leaning back.  
“Cut the shit Barton. You wanna drag everyone else down? Take it outside.” Fury snapped.  
“What hope?!” Clint’s voice rose, again surprising himself over his own intensity.  
“The Asgardians are gonna help up.” Fury replied.  
“A large army showed up early this morning.” Maria explained. “They’re gonna fight with us.”  
“Ok, that helps a bit.” Clint replied, sounding unconvinced.  
“What aren’t you telling us Barton?” Fury leaned in, his one eye glaring down at Clint.  
“I’m not sure… Everything’s all frosted over out there, I’m worried…” Clint paused, chewing his thumb nail. “Loki mentioned something a few times while I was with him, some race called the Frost Giants. I’m worried he may have forged an alliance with them to help fight against the Asgardians. If that’s the case, that means he has two armies at his command, the Frost Giants and the Chitauri, against just the Asgardians and maybe a handful of us.”  
“Yeah. That might pose a problem.” Fury replied slowly, looking as downcast as Fury could.

The morning came painfully early and Loki woke with a heavy heart and weary eyes. The idea of pulling himself from the couch pained him more than the battle wounds he still bore. Eventually he dragged himself up and went down to Stark’s well-stocked pantry, unable to help how odd it felt eating this man’s food, living in his home. Everything felt wrong.  
He intended to fix it though, today. When he battled the Aesir, he would win, and he would turn this realm into the perfect world. He saw how it’d run before when he was running around with Clint, finding materials to build his machine. People starved, hundreds if not thousands were homeless, at one point he’d seen a group of men beat a women nearly to death. Had he and Clint not intervened, she would have been murdered.  
That wasn’t going to happen in his world. He wouldn’t allow nonsensical violence like that. It was ridiculous, disorderly. His world would run more smoothly. He’d watch over the mortals as a benevolent God and make sure no one on this pathetic rock would go hungry or without a home again.  
After feeding himself, he returned himself to his former glory, summoning back his coat and layers of armour. He was more than aware of the Aesir’s arrival on Midgard while he was on Jotunheim and was poised for an attack at any moment.

The air was heavy with the smell of pre-battle, tension hanging thickly. Everyone could feel it, but no one seemed to know who was going to attack first. The Chitauri stood by, waiting for orders like mindless automatons. The Frost Giants shuffled tirelessly, aching for battle, unwilling to begin with an order for fear of losing the prizes Loki had promised them. The Aesir still laid in wait, waiting for the perfect time to strike.  
Loki strode along the crumbled streets, silently collecting his thoughts. He counted and recounted his men in his mind, trying to think of how many Odin would have spared to fight him. He wasn’t confident in his odds. The mortals seemed to think he had more Chitauri warriors than he did, when in reality he had maybe two thousand. The Jotun’s had supplied him with another thousand. Odin could have spared two thousand at the most.  
Loki was broken from his thoughts when he realized his path was blocked. A hundred yards ahead of him was a crudely built barricade with several mortal heads popping up behind it to look at him. Loki furrowed his brow.  
“Address yourselves!” He called, standing idly by, waiting to see what they planned.  
“Human Rebels!” Someone called hesitantly, sounding unsure of the title she’d given them. The humans rose in quiet chatter for a moment, before someone yelled out in agreement..  
“...Human rebels… I assume I would be correct in thinking you have weapons?” He asked casually as though he was a neutral party, rather than the one they were against.  
“Uh…. Yeah.” Another called back.  
Loki nodded slowly. “You would be smart to change alliances. You seem like good people, you shouldn’t be caught up in the matters of Gods.”  
“You’re no God!” Another screeched defiantly.  
Loki sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes. “I have an army of nearly 1500 Chitauri and Frost Giants, what hope has your little barricade against me?”  
They muttered among themselves again.  
“Where’s your army? From where we’re standing, there’s thirty of us, and one of you.”  
“Oh dear, how could that not have crossed my mind? Whatever shall I do to protect myself against thirty-”  
The sound of gunfire echoed along the streets as a bullet found itself lodged in Loki’s shoulder. He hissed and grasped his shoulder, coating his hand in his own blood. More cracks from the guns went off and Loki ducked behind a building. He was sure the bullet had not met it’s target, rather luck guiding it between two sections of armour. He dug the bit of metal out and dropped it on the ground. After the first shot had been fired, several Chitauri and Frost Giants had crawled from their hiding places and taken to the streets.  
It wasn’t long before the streets were filled with the four species locked in battle. The city was filled with the sounds of gunfire, swords crashing against shield, screams and battle cries. Loki took to the roof tops, watching the chaos ensue. In the midst of the battle, he spotted what was left of the Avengers. He picked Clint out of them quickly. 

Clint and the others had taken up station in an abandoned building, waiting for the first sign of battle to strike. They watched the exchange between Loki and the Barricade, trying desperately to suppress their cheering when Loki was shot. As soon as he was, he disappeared and the armies filled the street, locking in combat.  
Natasha and Steve instantly took to the battle, throwing themselves into the thick of it, engaging with several Chitauri warriors. Fury and Maria sniped from where they were stationed, and Clint tracked down Loki. The Earth would never be free if Loki had even a glimmer of hope that he could rule it, and so long as he was alive, he’d have that hope, or ambition, whatever it was that kept him trying.  
Loki was not difficult to find. He’d retreated to the roof of a building nearby just like he had last time. Clint followed him up, keeping his distance. He crept up behind him, keeping his footsteps as silent as he could, bow loaded with the tip of the arrow pointed at the nape of Loki’s neck.  
“No point in being so quiet Clint, I know you’re there.” Loki said suddenly.  
“I kind of expected that.” Clint replied, rounding to the side.  
“It never ceases to amaze me how hard your people fight… Do they even know exactly what they’re fighting for? What makes them so sure they don’t want me as a ruler?” Loki asked, talking mostly to himself.  
“It’s in our nature. You’re a conquestor, people don’t like being conquested.” Clint replied. “People don’t like change. Also, you murdered a lot of people in your effort to take over here.”  
“And more will die because they refuse to submit.” Loki growled. “This would not have to happen, no one else had to die.”  
“Call it off then.”  
“No! I will not! I’ve come too far. I will see this to the end.” Loki snapped back, turning his head to look at Clint.  
“You said before you didn’t want to kill me. What about now?” Clint asked, unphased by Loki’s outburst.  
“The sentiment stands the same.”  
“Then I guess I’m gonna win, aren't I?” Clint pointed the bow up again.  
“Not necessarily.” Loki replied, turning to face him.  
Clint moved swiftly, pulling the string back and releasing. Loki knocked the tip away, sending the arrow flying past him. He gripped the bow, shoving it back, hitting Clint in the face. Clint stumbled back, quickly catching his footing, turning and knocking his foot heavily against Loki’s side. Loki grabbed his foot, absorbing the kick, and pulled it forward, cracking Clint in the jaw with his fist. He spun Clint around, throwing him to the ground and driving his knee into the middle of Clint’s spine. Clint let out a pained groan, wriggling beneath Loki’s weight.  
“It does not have to be this way Clint.” Loki hissed, pinning Clint’s hands down above his head.  
“What do you care? You slaughtered people for fun, what difference does it make if people die now?” Clint snapped back, his cheek pressed painfully against the ground.  
“I-... You think I did that for fun?” Loki asked, sounding disgusted. He rolled Clint over onto his back, placing himself just above his hips, locking his wrists under his knees. “I told you before, I mean to rule this place. I can’t do that if everyone is dead. These people- these are good people, and they’re fighting a lost cause. They’re going to die because of their ignorance.”  
“Then you know nothing of ruling!” Clint spat in Loki’s face.  
Loki wiped the saliva away from his face, glaring down at Clint. “And what do you know of it?”  
Clint fell silent, still grimacing at Loki.  
“This is what it is to concur. A war ensued and peopled died, I expected that. I guess I was foolish to believe they would accept their fate. I held too much faith in your people… And I was foolish to believe you’d stand by me after I released you.” His face dropped for half a second, just enough to show the emotion behind his words before he composed himself again.  
“Did you think everyone would fall at your feet and worship you? Did you think I’d be _grateful_ that you kidnapped me? That I’d throw myself into your arms and agree to marry you?” Clint growled, squirming under Loki’s grasp.  
“How foolish do you think me Barton?” Loki replied calmly. “I knew this wouldn’t be easy, hence the army.”  
Clint groaned irritably. “Whatever, just get off me.”  
Loki rosed, helping Clint to his feet and looking back out at the battle. Hesitantly, Clint took up standing beside him again, searching out Steve and Natasha in the crowd. They were still locked together with Chitauri and a handful of Frost Giants, working together to take them out. It was futile though. Loki’s armies outnumbered the Aesir by quite a few people.  
“I guess it doesn’t matter either way, you were right. You’re gonna win.” Clint let out a sigh.  
“If this is what you call winning.” Loki shrugged. “Extract your people, evacuate anyone important to you back to Stark Tower if you do not wish them to die.”  
And with that, Loki vanished.

Loki shifted into a smokey form, diving down into the battle and began searching out Sif and the Warriors Three, as well as Frigga just in case she’d decided to join the battle. She was nowhere to be seen, but Loki eventually found the warriors and teleported them back to the tower. Once he’d gotten the last one, Volstagg, to the tower and rematerialized, he saw that Clint had followed his order and brought Nat, Steve, Maria, and Fury.  
The battle surged for several more hours before ultimately moving to Asgard. Loki went with, securing a random relic from the weapons vault for the Frost Giants as promised. The Aesir ultimately fought them off there, but didn’t dare to attempt another strike on Midgard. Loki had, essentially, won.  
Most of the mortals had hidden during the battle, so hardly any of them had died. With the battle having moved off-world, the mortal finally accepted their subjugation. After the battle was done and the Jotun’s had finished choosing slaves and cleared out of Asgard, Loki returned Sif and The Warriors Three to their home. 

“Somebody wanna explain to me what we’re still doing here?” Fury demanded during lunch, five days after the last battle.  
“It… seems safe here?” Clint replied, unsure himself, “I don’t know honestly. Loki’s been avoiding us though, he actually seems really busy.”  
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Fury replied. “I wanna know what he’s working on.”  
“What’s it matter?” Clint asked.  
“Excuse me-?”  
“No, Clint’s… Clint’s right.” Natasha cut in. “Loki’s in charge, we lost, what’s it matter what he’s working on? Not like we can stop him at this point.”  
“Agent Romanov, it’s not like you to-”  
“I’m not an agent anymore Fury, none of us are. There’s no SHIELD anymore, there’s just… Loki, I don’t know. It just seems pretty moot now.”  
“They’re right, but I’d still like to know what to expect from Loki.” Steve interjected. He turned his gaze to Clint slowly. “He seems to like you the best, think you can squeeze some info out of him?”  
“It wouldn’t hurt to try.” Clint replied, sighing, pushing away from the table.  
He ducked out of the room and into the elevator, going up to the top floor where Loki was almost 24/7. The doors slid open and he was shocked by what he saw. Loki had nailed spare blankets over the windows, as well as making a large, makeshift bed in the middle of the living room out of pillows, blankets, anything he could get his hands on. He was sitting in that bed now, wearing only a pair of loose, black cotton pants and a white tunic that looked far too big for him.  
Loki was hanging over the coffee table, papers everywhere, a phone crammed between his shoulder and his ear. He looked positively exhausted, scribbling quickly over the papers, talking into the phone, sounding like he was trying very hard to keep his cool. Which ultimately failed as he chucked the phone hard against the wall. It shattered and fell to the floor.  
“Tough day in the office?” Clint asked. Loki looked up, his face unchanging as his eyes fell on the other man.  
“You could say that.” Loki replied. Clint walked over and sat down next to Loki, looking over at the papers spread in front of him.  
“What are you doing?”  
“Your world has a very… _had_ a very frustrating form of government. None of this… makes any sense. Everyone here has accepted me as their ruler, but there’s still so many technicalities to work out. I’ve spent the past several days contacting leaders of important businesses, trying to rebuild everything.” He trailed off, running his hands over his face in exhaustion.  
Clint was surprised at how seriously Loki was taking this all. He would have expected Loki to just stay up here, waiting for people to bring him offerings, not caring how the rest of the world faired. Instead, he was up here ordering construction workers to put the city back together, food distributing businesses, this paper had something to do with the French Embassy, he had no clue what half of these had to do with. It didn’t help that Loki was writing in a different language.  
Clint sighed and repositioned himself behind Loki, placing his hands on the man’s neck, massaging his thumbs into the skin. Loki let out a long moan, dropping his head. Loki’s skin was as soft as it looked, which was to be expected, Clint guessed, seeing as the guy was a prince.  
After a moment, Clint pulled on him gently, tugging Loki back into his lap. The man laid against Clint willingly, closing his eyes, laying in his lap. Clint ran his hands through Loki’s hair, coming through the dark locks.  
“Why are you doing this?” Loki asked, his voice sounding significantly more at ease.  
“You look stressed.” Clint replied.  
“So?”  
“So, it’s not good for you, and…. honestly, I’m really impressed at the amount of work you’re putting into this. Really, I’m… I’m kind of proud of you.” Clint mumbled out, tangling his fingers in the strands of hair.  
Loki opened his eyes, looking up at Clint. He stared for a long while, just studying Clint’s face, both men silent. Then, Loki slowly rolled over, sitting up onto his knees, reaching a hand out and running it over Clint’s cheek. He looked like he was going to try to kiss Clint, and he prepared himself for it, but instead, Loki simply leaned forward, laying back against Clint, resting his head on the man’s shoulder.  
Clint relaxed a bit, wrapping his arms around Loki’s shoulders and leaning back against the bed.  
“You should make sure you’re taking a bit of time to yourself. You can’t be working 24/7.” Clint said, lazily trailing his fingers over Loki’s shoulder.  
“Mm…. What would you have me do? I get shot at every time I leave the tower, and I’d rather not bother your group. I’m not blind or stupid, I know they sent you up here to find out what I was doing. I honestly don’t know why you all stayed.” Loki replied, shifting slightly to get more comfortable.  
“Yeah, they did, and I was also curious. I think you should try to interact with them more. They could help you with some of these plans you’ve got.” Clint looked down at Loki, searching for the reply.  
“They would not like me trying to force my way into their group.” Loki replied. “Now be quiet, I’d like to sleep and it’s very hard when you’re yapping in my ear.”  
“Fair enough, but we’re not done talking about this.” Clint scooted down on the bed, relaxing against the body beside him.


	2. Chapter 2

Hushed whispers filled the dark room, the only light coming from a small blue bit of technology. The room was small, decorated for a child, covered in a thick layer of dust. In the center of the room was a small bed, fitted with the sleeping figure of a man. Good portions of his skin was covered in bandages, dark burns scarring his flesh.  
Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, unfocused, rolling around his head, trying to get a grasp on where he was. Suddenly, his memories came back and he bolted into an upright position. His suit? Where was his suit? His eyes flew around the room, trying desperately to find his bearings. They landed on the hunk of metal, torn apart and disassembled, lying in the corner of the room. He let out a disheartened sigh. The suit was utterly trashed.  
“You’re awake…” A quiet voice whispered from the door. Tony looked over, squinting to try to see who was speaking.  
“It would definitely seem like it. I’m not entirely convinced though. Where am i?” Tony laid back a bit, the pain rushing back.  
“The Block House… Judge rounded up survivors, brought them here. He takes care of them as best he can.” The figure moved into the room a bit more. She was a young girl probably in her mid to late teens, with dark skin and short-cut black hair.  
“O...kay… Survivors? Survivors of… of the attack?” Tony swung his legs over the side of the bed, inspecting his injuries. The girl nodded. “What happened? Did we win?”  
“No… No we lost, um… some of your team died, we thought you were gonna die too. It’s a miracle you survived that blast. We couldn’t save your suit though.”   
Tony waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got more. Bring me the helmet will you? And what’s your name?”  
The girl moved to the hunk and pulled out the two pieces of the helmet. “My name’s Shiloh. You’re Tony Stark right?”  
“In the flesh.” He replied, taking the pieces.   
He tinkered around, trying to see if it still had power. The helmet flickered to life, threatening to go out a few times. Finally, it stabilized and Tony put it on over his head, holding it in place.   
“Hey JARVIS, you in there buddy?” He said, checking the power levels on the helmet. It still had a good 20% left.  
“Trying sir.” The AI replied.  
“Alright, good to hear your voice. Deploy a suit to come get me will you?”   
“My apologies sir, but my programming was been rewritten. I can’t comply to your orders until it’s fixed.”   
Tony paused. “Rewritten? By who?”  
“Loki, sir.”  
“I-... Son of a bitch. Is he living in my tower?”  
“Yes sir, as well as Director Fury, Agent Hill, Agent Romanov, Agent Barton, Captain Rogers, Ms. Potts, and three other SHIELD Operatives.”  
Tony’s heart lurched in his chest. “...JARVIS…. Report on Doctor Bruce Banner.”  
“Sir-”  
“Report!”  
“...Doctor Banner was killed in combat.”  
Tony pulled his helmet off and threw it across the room. Shiloh flinched as the metal clattered against the wall. Tears threatened to spill over Tony’s eyelids and his throat clenched painfully. His breathing increased in shallows gulps, his chest constricted and he shook uncontrollably.   
“I-I-I-... I can’t…” He stood, wobbly, moving away from the bed, only to fall when he reached the window. “Sh-Shiloh… Where am I? What-What part of… What part of town are we in?”  
“Downtown- are you ok? Should I get Judge?” She asked, worry filling her eyes.  
“No, no no, no I’m fine, I just- oh god… Bruce.” He leaned back against the wall, pressing his hands against his eyes. Then a thought occurred to him. “Oh my god… Pepper, she’s at the tower with Loki… I have to get there, I need to get back to Stark Towers.”  
With the new motivation, he pulled himself to his feet, swaying a little bit before finding his footing. He picked the helmet back up and exited the room, allowing Shiloh to help him down the stairs. At the bottom, he was greeted by a handful of people. One man in perhaps his mid twenties with dark hair approached Tony, extending his hand.  
“Mr. Stark, you shouldn’t be out of bed.” He said, casting a look at Shiloh.  
“This is Judge.” She whispered into Tony’s ear, shrugging at Judge and exiting the room.  
“Right, well, thank you… Judge…. for helping me, you saved my life. But I’ve got someplace I need to be, pretty much as soon as possible.” Tony replied, patting Judge’s hand before turning to open the front door.  
“I don’t recommend going out there unarmed Mr. Stark-”  
“Tony, please, there’s no need for formalities here.”  
“Tony… The city is still crawling with Chitauri, as well as a new species Loki brought in when the Asgardians came to try to help us.” Judge replied, leaning on the wall beside the door.  
“Asgardians… what happened to Thor?” He almost didn’t want to know the answer. Hell, he _knew_ he didn’t want to know the answer, but he also didn’t want to be the only one out of the loop.  
“He and Loki were fighting on your tower, no one’s really sure what happened. A huge explosion went off, sent both of them flying in opposite directions. Thor went up, through the portal the Chitauri were coming through. No one’s seen him since.”  
Tony stopped, chuckling a little. “What, he went through the portal and you all assumed he was dead?”  
“We didn’t, Loki did. He went crazy after that happened, screaming at the sky. He took one of the gliders up to the portal, he was gone a while before he came back full force. It was that last bit of fury that won him the battle. It seemed to pull him out of some sort of daze.” Judge pulled the curtain from the window, peeking out. “Still though, if you insist on going back to your tower, you’ll want a weapon. You should wait till tomorrow too, it’s going to be dark soon.”  
Tony pulled the door open and looked up and down the block. “I’m not scared of them. Just give me a weapon, I’m going now, I can’t afford to wait.”  
Judge exchanged a look with the others behind him before sighing and seeking out a weapon for Tony. He disappeared into the living room, coming back a moment later and handed Tony a dagger. Tony looked down, staring at the blade for a moment before looking back up at Judge.  
“Sorry, guns were outlawed after the Rebellion, they’re too hard to get a hold of now, and the Chitauri were ordered to arrest anyone spotted with a gun. Of course, to the Chitauri, that means shot on sight…”  
Tony shook his head in exasperation. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Just wish me luck, kay?”

Tony patted Judge’s arm and threw himself out of the house, taking off down the street. Thankfully, his tower was the tallest, so he knew which way to go already. He kept to backroads, instantly turning and going the opposite direction if he heard anything more than a bird crying. The streets were relatively empty, eerily quiet, with the occasional group of Chitauri digging through the trash, stopping to watch him walk slowly past him.  
He quickly found though that the Chitauri weren’t a problem at all. In fact, the Chitauri practically ignored him, and he didn’t see any of this new species Judge had mentioned before. No, what turned out to be the problem was other humans, which was to be expected really. He was stopped more times than he could count on two hands by groups of opportunists, ordering him to give them anything of value he had.  
At the first stop, Tony quickly relinquished his dagger, having had little use for it anyways. The second stop, he gave away his shoes with slightly more disdain than he had at the loss of a weapon. It was another two hours before he was stopped, his feet aching. There, he gave up his belt and a tube of ointment he’d found in his pocket.  
The fourth stop, the group attempting to take his helmet and he made a run for it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very fast and he was still in quite a lot of pain, but he outsmarted them. By the time he got to the tower, he was practically down to his boxers. He slipped into the lobby of his building, the windows having been busted out making for easy access. Finding a way up was the harder part. The first ten levels had been completely blocked off, both electrically as well as a series of physical blockades.  
It took a bit of searching, but finally, he found the larger ventilation system access in the floor and began making his way up the tower.

The evening sun managed to find a section between the blankets to shine through, resting upon Loki’s face. His face furrowed a little and he brought his hand up, sliding it over his face lazily. Then his eyes slid open a little, looking around the room. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His gaze landed on the papers covering the coffee table, then moved to Clint.  
He relaxed a bit at the sight of the man asleep in his bed. Checking the clock, he sighed. They’d slept for nearly two hours. Two hours he could have put towards working on the new wage plan, wasted. Perhaps not entirely wasted though. He leaned back against Clint, curling into the curves of the man’s body, resting his head in the crook of Clint’s neck.  
Reaching up, Loki caressed his hand over Clint’s cheeking, giving it a few small pats. “Clint… Clint you must wake now, it’s growing late.”  
Clint let out an inaudible mumbled, twitching his hand up a bit before resting it over his chest.  
“Clint… Wake up.” He patted Clint’s face a little harder and he roused a bit more. “Are you awake?”  
“Mmm….You’re a very annoying alarm clock.” Clint grumbled, his voice laced with sleep. “What time is it?”  
“Six.” Loki replied, sitting up now that Clint was awake.  
“Fuck… The others are going to be suspicious by now.” Clint sat up too, the joints in his back popping loudly.  
Clint was barely pulling himself from the bed when the doors slid open and Natasha came out, looking around, eyes locking on Clint.  
“Where the hell have you been for the past two hours?” She asked, her gaze flicking warily to Loki a few times.  
“Uh- we were-”  
“Clint was helping me work.” Loki replied simply, gesturing to the papers on his table.  
“Uh-huh, is that so?” Natasha asked, walking closer to the two. “Loki, you have sleep lines on your face.”  
“...Can you blame me for lying?” Loki stood, stretching, walking to the kitchen. His too-big tunic was falling off around one soldier, giving him an absolutely disheveled appearance.  
“Depends. Why were you two sleeping together?” Natasha cast her gaze to Clint now.  
“That’s uh… that’s actually a really good question. Rain check?”  
“Maybe. You compromised Barton?”  
“What? No, fuck no, I’m fine. I’m only up here because you all told me to.” Clint stood now too, smoothing out his wrinkled clothing.  
“We told you to find out why Loki had shut himself away in here, not to take a nap with the guy. He’s still the villain here Barton, or have you forgotten?” Natasha’s voice had risen a little, intimidating Clint quite a bit.  
“He’s not though- I mean- he is, but- Just look at these ok?” Clint scooped up some of the papers that were written in English and handed them to Nat.  
“No, don’t- those aren’t finished yet.” Loki started, stepping out of the kitchen area.  
“These are… You came up with these?” Natasha turned, facing Loki now.  
“....Yes… They are based on the figures used on Asgard…” Loki replied, wringing his hands nervously.  
“These could work…” Natasha replied, sifting through the papers. “Hey JARVIS?”  
“Yes Ma’am?”  
“Yeah, don’t call me that. Could you send Fury, Hill, and Rogers up here?”  
“Yes Ma-, Miss Romanov.”  
“W-What- What are you doing?” Loki asked, taking a few more steps towards her, hesitantly reaching out to take the papers back. She held them just out of his reach.  
“Sir?” JARVIS’s voice came over the intercom again.  
“Yes?” Loki furrowed his brow.  
“Mister Stark is climbing through the air system. He’s on level 40 right now.”  
“Mist- Stark, Tony Stark?” Loki turned, looking thoroughly confused.  
“I thought you said he died.” Clint said, sounding suspicious and irritated.  
“He did- I mean, I-... What condition is he in?”  
“He’s sustained severe burns and deep tissue bruises all over his body, as well as several minor fractures and a concussion.”  
“Amazing… Redirect him out of the air vents, grant him access to the elevators.”  
“Yes sir.”  
“So what, you don’t hate us?” Natasha asked, looking a little amused.  
“I don’t hate any of you, you were in my way, now, for the time-being, you’re not.” Loki replied, again reaching for the papers and again being denied access to them.  
“You don’t see us as a threat? Living in the same house as you? Where we could kill you in your sleep if we wanted to?”  
“Who are we killing in their sleep?” Steve’s voice interrupted them. The three ex-SHIELD workers stepped into the room, striding towards the others.  
“I was just asking how Loki’s able to sleep so well knowing we’re just a few floors below him.” Natasha asked, handing Steve the papers. “Loki came up with these. What are your thoughts?”  
Steve took the papers handed to him, Fury and Maria leaning over his shoulders to read along with him. They all fell silent as they looked over the papers, furrowing their brows occasionally, looking both confused and impressed, or at least surprised.  
“These figures could potentially solve the hunger problem…” Maria said after a while, looking up from the papers. “You… why did you write these?”  
“Is Earth quite used to being ruled by men who let their people starve? Why is it such a complete surprise that I’d you all from dying after a month?” Loki snapped, sounding irritated now.  
“It’s just…”  
“We didn’t really expect you to be an actual ruler. More like… I guess we were all expecting you to find some fancy estate to live on and order everyone to bring you things.” Steve replied, at last handing the papers back to Loki.  
“I planned to be a king not a slave-owner.” Loki responded simply, tossing the papers back onto the coffee table and heading back to the kitchen.

The elevator doors slid open and everyone turned to see who was there. The three who’d not been informed of Tony’s survival gawked in absolute shock. Steve looked like he was about ready to spring a leak.  
“Miss me?” Tony flashed a cocky smile, tossing the ironman helmet at Steve before moving to the left, entering the bar area. “I know I’m all recovered alcoholic and whatnot, but I don’t think anyone will mind if I have one or two, maybe thirty drinks?”  
“JARVIS, would you be so kind as to convince Miss Potts to come up here?” Loki asked.  
“Of course sir.”  
“Thanks pal, speaking of JARVIS though-”  
“You want me to rewrite his programming again so you can access his services.” Loki replied. “My apologies, we were all under the impression you were dead.”  
“Uh, yeah, blatant lie. I’m fine, more than fine, actually, I feel great. Why are you all here, by the way? You know, living with the guy that murdered Bruce and half the city?” Tony’s demeanor dropped, his stare boring holes through Loki.  
“Uh, we-...” Maria began, unsure of what to say. To be completely honest, none of them could really figure out why they’d stayed.  
“It was safer here, well stocked with food and water. Clint brought us here during the Rebellion, and when Loki never bothered us, we kind of just… stayed.” Steve replied, his eyes dropping.  
“Yeah, sure, that makes sense.” Tony said, no one sure if he was being sarcastic or not. “So why are you all up here now then?”  
“Loki’s been working on some stuff, I thought everyone would want to see it.” Natasha replied, reaching for the papers again. Loki let out an irritated sigh.  
Tony spent less than a minute looking over the first page before he pulled a pen off the counter and started circling things.  
“Uh, what are you doing?” Loki stepped forward, snatching the papers away.  
“The stuff I circled needs to be fixed, the stuff I underlined is completely wrong.” Tony replied simply, poking the palm of his hand with the pen.  
Loki looked down at the papers. “I- This isn’t wrong- Why do you think it’s wrong?”  
The two moved together, Tony pointing at stuff and launching into a long explanation of every flaw in Loki’s logic, Loki looking already like he regretted asking. Clint watched the two and let out an amused chuckle, folding his arms over his chest.  
“So… are we…” Steve spoke up hesitantly, looking around at everyone. “Are we working with Loki now?”  
“...Fury?” Natasha turned their attention to their former boss.  
“Don’t look at me, I’m not in charge anymore. Like you said, SHIELD is gone.” He replied, shrugging his shoulders.  
“It seems progressive, at least.” Clint offered, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “He’s working on beneficial stuff, if he actually goes through with all these plans, we could put the world back together, bigger, better. We could help keep him on track, and the extra hands would probably speed up the process a bit. We might even be allowed to rebuild SHIELD.”  
Everyone nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer.  
“It seems wrong though.” Natasha replied after a while. “He killed Thor and Bruce, it just…”  
“You saw the way he reacted, I don’t think it was his intention to kill Thor.” Steve replied solomnly.  
“You know, I’m literally four meters away from you all, I can hear everything you’re saying.” Loki said, cutting them all off. “Please, everyone, just… go, I’m tired. Stark, you may continue looking these over and propose the rest of the changes to me tomorrow.”  
Loki pushed the papers back into Tony’s hands and walked away, a hand pressed to the side of his head. He made his way back to the bed before stopping and staring at everyone, waiting for them to leave. Slowly, everyone shuffled out. Everyone but Clint.  
“I’ll catch up, I wanna ask him about something.” Clint whispered to Natasha before heading back into the room.

“Surprisingly enough, Barton, you were not an exception when I said ‘everyone’.” Loki said, falling to his knees onto the bed, lowering himself down the rest of the way and laying on his back.  
“What’s up? You got all grouchy when everyone started coming up here.” Clint laid down on the bed beside Loki, settling on his stomach, propped up on his elbows, looking down at Loki.  
“Is there a reason I should have been joyful?” Loki asked, his face still dark.  
“Are you just mad because we were all reading your stuff?” Clint asked, resting his cheek against his arms.  
“It’s not polite.” Loki replied, turning gaze to the ceiling.  
“Yeah, and since when are you polite Loki?”  
“Why are you here Barton?” Loki demanded suddenly, casting large eyes at Clint.  
Clint shrugged.  
“Then leave.” Loki rolled over, pulling the blanket over with him. “JARVIS, lights.”  
“Oh come on, it’s not even seven, get your lazy ass out of bed.” Clint rolled back onto his knees, grabbing Loki’s arm and pulling it up.  
“Go away, I have a headache.”  
“Then take some painkillers, you’ve got work to do _King_ ” Clint replied, tuggin harder.  
“I _am_ king, and I will go to bed at 7 if I so choose to.” Loki tugged his arm away and pushed his hand against Clint’s chest trying to push the man away without moving too much.  
“Whatever man, sleep the day away, not like we didn’t _just_ wake up from a two hour nap.” Clint stood and left, letting his foot hit Loki’s leg as he walked. He looked back briefly to see what reaction Loki would have, but the man hadn’t moved. Clint shrugged to himself and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly shorter than the last one, but oh well. Chapter 2 whoop whoop.

**Author's Note:**

> Working on lots of different stories, but I'm glad to finally get more stuff out. I'm gonna try hard to get this one finished and posted as soon as possible.
> 
> \---------
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr!
> 
> Http://birdwithakeyboard.tumblr.com/


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